Changing your joinery,
step by step.

Some signs are unmistakable: single glazing, condensation forming between the two panes of a double-glazed unit (the glazing seal has failed), timber that splits or blackens at the foot of the frame, a sash that rubs or no longer closes, a draught felt with a hand held near the frame.

Other faults can be corrected without replacing anything: a misaligned sash, a crushed seal, a worn handle. During the visit, our joiners sort out what is a matter of adjustment and what justifies new joinery, and tell you.

In the mountains, orientation also matters. A north-facing facade, or one that takes the rain head-on, wears out its windows far faster than the south facade sheltered by the roof overhang. It is often there that replacement begins.

1. Single-glazed windows. The gain in comfort is clearest there, and it is the only case where the CEE premium is still valid for a window, provided the frame is also changed.

2. Joinery tied to other works. If wall insulation, internal or external, is planned in the coming years, the windows are changed with it: their position within the thickness of the wall depends on it, and reworking them later would mean paying twice for the reveals and finishes.

3. The front door, when it lets air through or closes badly. Only one item of joinery, but the most handled in the house.

4. Shutters, which are decided together with the window they protect: a roller shutter built into the new unit is not priced like a shutter added to an existing opening.

Nothing obliges you to change everything at once. Grouping nevertheless has two advantages: a single set of measurements and a single town hall procedure when the appearance changes, and a removal that our quotes then price in one go.

The amounts below are taken as they stand from our four guides for each type of joinery, each drawn up from our own 2024-2026 quotes in Savoie and Haute-Savoie: 25 quotes for windows, 16 for sliding windows, 25 for front doors and 26 for shutters. They are prices excluding VAT, supply and fitting included.

To put a complete project in perspective, our windows guide takes a house with eight windows and no shutters: €7,740 excl. VAT, removal included, or about €8,170 incl. VAT at 5.5%. What is left out of these lines: making good the interior reveals after a full removal, priced according to their condition, and the window sill when it is damaged, €250 excl. VAT each on the two quotes that include it.

Our quotes rarely compare materials on the same window. Only one figure covers the same window in PVC and in aluminium: aluminium comes out about 50% more expensive there; a single line gives a price for timber, around three times that of PVC. That is too little to publish ranges, but enough to give the order of magnitude.

For front doors, our quotes distinguish steel, from €2,000 to €3,500 excl. VAT, and aluminium, from €2,500 to €3,600 excl. VAT; none names a PVC or timber door.

Price is not the only criterion. Timber needs regular maintenance, the planning rules often set the colour, and a large opening benefits from slim profiles. For the glazing, our quotes specify insulating double glazing, stated with a Uw coefficient of 1.3; none includes triple glazing, which lets in less sunlight and is not justified on every façade.

Renovation-type fitting fixes the new frame onto the old fixed frame, left in place. The reveals, plaster and paintwork around the opening are not disturbed, and the work goes quickly. In return, the glazed area loses a few centimetres, and the CEE bonus is not available, since it requires the fixed frame to be replaced.

Full removal takes out the entire frame. The new window regains the full opening and the joint between the wall and the joinery is redone from scratch; the interior reveals, and sometimes the exterior sill, then have to be made good.

When wall insulation is part of the project, the window receives a reveal trim (tapée) that extends it to the new thickness of the wall. Our windows guide details these three ways of fitting and what they change on the quote.

Replacing like for like requires no formalities. Changing the material, the colour, the division of the glazing, or going from a hinged shutter to a roller shutter alters the appearance of the façade: a prior declaration of works (déclaration préalable) is then required. It is processed in one month, two in a protected area, where the ABF heritage architect (architecte des Bâtiments de France) gives an opinion.

In the two Savoie départements, many planning regulations govern the colour of windows and doors: you may as well read them before choosing a model. Our pages on window replacement in Aix-les-Bains, in Annecy and in Chambéry detail the rules specific to those three towns.

In a co-ownership building, changing the appearance of the windows or shutters on a façade requires the approval of the general meeting, and the co-ownership rules may impose a common model or colour. It is better to put the question on the agenda before ordering.

Old leaky windows ventilate the house without anyone deciding it. New, airtight joinery closes these leaks: without organised ventilation, the moisture from the kitchen, the showers and the occupants stays inside, and condensation, then mould, spread to the cold walls.

With a single-flow VMC (mechanical ventilation), fresh air enters through air inlets placed in the living rooms, most often built into the new windows: they are specified when ordering. With a dual-flow VMC, fresh air arrives through the duct network and the windows do not need them. A house with no ventilation at all has found the right moment to install one; our guide to the price of a dual-flow VMC gives our ranges.

A roller shutter is ordered either with the window, box included, or on its own, added to existing joinery. In the first case, the manufacturer invoices the whole unit and the fitting is carried out as one; our quotes give, for example, €1,750 to €2,500 excl. VAT for a two-leaf window with its roller shutter.

External insulation also affects hinged shutters, which have to be re-hung on offset hinges: about €650 excl. VAT per shutter on the only quote that prices it.

For the front door, the condition of the frame, the threshold and the available clear height determine what is possible. VAT at 5.5% requires a door whose Ud coefficient does not exceed 1.7 W/m².K.

1. The visit and measurements. Every opening is measured; the condition of the frames, sills and reveals is noted, along with the appearance required by the municipality.

2. The prior declaration (déclaration préalable), if the appearance changes: one month of processing from a complete file, two in a protected area. The order waits for approval.

3. Manufacture. Each piece of joinery is made to measure from the final dimensions. The lead time is counted in weeks and varies with the manufacturer, the material and the season: it is confirmed when the order is placed.

4. Fitting, opening by opening, by our salaried joiners, so that no room stays open longer than necessary.

5. Finishing: making good the reveals after a full removal, adjusting the opening sashes, and checking the air inlets.

VAT. In a home completed more than two years ago, replacing windows and doors benefits from the 5.5% rate when they meet the thresholds of article 30-0 D bis of annex IV to the French general tax code: for a window or French window, a Uw coefficient of at most 1.3 with a solar factor of at least 0.3, or a Uw of at most 1.7 with a solar factor of at least 0.36; for a front door, a Ud of at most 1.7; for a shutter, an additional thermal resistance greater than 0.22 m².K/W. Failing that, the rate is 10%, and 20% in new construction or in an extension. Our guide to VAT on renovation work covers the three rates.

MaPrimeRénov'. Since 1^st September 2026, the single-measure route no longer funds windows, doors or shutters (order of 25 August 2026). Windows and doors are still taken into account in a major renovation, reserved for homes rated E, F or G, with at least two insulation measures and a gain of at least two rating bands.

CEE bonus. Sheet BAR-EN-104 covers the replacement of a single-glazed window, frame included, in a home more than two years old.

Our RGE CertiRénov certification (no. CR-2026-73-0095) covers the whole-home renovation offer, the one in which windows and doors form part of a major renovation together with insulation and heating.